statecraft

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   skill and sound judgment in governing a state and managing its affairs, especially diplomacy and foreign policy

   The treaty showed patient statecraft rather than a pursuit of short-term political advantage.

A compound of state, in its political sense, and craft, 'skill or art.' Craft descends from Old English craeft, 'strength, skill, art,' so statecraft is literally the skill or art of managing a state.

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